General Tips for Going Legendary Alone

The following content was submitted by Alpine gremlin

Alright, there is no question that Halo`s Legendary campaign is tough. From Halo`s get-go in 2001, Legendary has been widely accepted as one of biggest challenges in the gaming world. Alone or with friends, it doesn`t matter, this setting WILL test your gaming prowess to the utmost extent. I`ve beaten Halo 3, ODST, and Halo: Reach on Legendary and I want to share what I`ve learned to give you some general tip for beating the "unbeatable".

Beating Legendary is not soley skill-based. Your more likely to spend 50% of your time cowering behind cover and/or dying. To best your alien foes, you must be patient and persistent. Take it slow, time doesn`t matter. If you can`t hit an enemy, let him go. He`ll be back soon enough. Don`t go chasing him around because this will allow his alien friends to expedite your return to the previous checkpoint. Remember, you have no team to re-spawn with, so you must be careful. If it doesn`t look safe to move up, it usually isn`t. Once you get a checkpoint, then that is the time to go gung-ho and take risks. It is actually quite satisfying when it works too.

Speaking of team, you do have one, an A.I. team. While they don`t do much in terms of eliminating enemies on their own, they excel at distracting them. Additionally, they are invincible, making them great meat-shields. While they rush at the enemies, sit back and pick them off while they are not directly firing at you. This makes the other Spartans indispensable when you don`t have the right weapons for the current situation and need the heat taken off of you. Here`s and example: My squad mate, Emile and I were facing off against two Hunters. While he rushed out to fight them, I snuck around and blasted my shotgun to one`s exposed back. He turned to kill me but then Emile shot him. This process continued for both of them until they had fallen. With Hunters, be sure to keep them separated so one can`t kill you while you fight the other. This way you and your virtual team can “tag-team” these behemoths, making them far less deadly.

Another important part of becoming a Legendary player is the ability to prioritize your targets. As mentioned above, the friendly A.I. does not do much in terms of killing enemies. You then, need to kill the biggest threat to you. When choosing your order of elimination, remember this little phrase I came up with “Biggest is not always baddest!” What does this mean? It means that the toughest enemies aren`t the biggest threat to you in most situations. Obviously, and Elite with an Energy Sword or a Brute with a Gravity Hammer require your attention first, but you`ll find that you most commonly die by the little guys such as Grunts or Jackals. Although weak individually and easy to kill, these enemies pose a huge threat in numbers, easily wearing down your shields and killing you within seconds. Here`s a situation: 10 Grunts and 2 Elites are facing you. While you could go for the Elites first, this puts you at risk to be cut down by the Grunts. Therefore, killing the Grunts first drastically decreases the number of weapons pointed in your direction, making the situation easier to handle. Skirmishers armed with Needle Rifles or Focus Rifles pose an enormous threat and can keep you hopelessly pinned down. If they are present, take them out.

Here`s a list of the enemy types and COMMONLY FOUND weapons most effective against them:
~Grunts: DMR, Magnum, Needle Rifle, Heavy MG, grenades
~Jackals: DMR, Magnum, Needle Rifle, Heavy MG, grenades
~Skirmishers: DMR, Needle Rifle, Magnum, Heavy MG, grenades
~Elites: DMR/Plasma Pistol combo, Needler
~Brutes: Magnum, DMR, Needle Rifle, Needler
~Brutes (Shielded): DMR/Plasma Pistol combo, Needler
~Hunters(exposed flesh only): Plasma Turret, DMR, Shotgun, grenades, Needle Rifle
~Drones: All weapons, but precision firearms(i.e. DMR or Needle Rifle) are much quicker at taking out these insects.
~Engineers: All weapons, but precision weapons are preferred.

On the topic of Engineers: Do you ever wonder why unshielded enemies sometimes have shields? The reason is Engineers. These floating aliens do not pose a direct threat to you, but they do equip any nearby Covenant with a layer of shielding, making your life more difficult. While they are by no means your primary targets, you should take them out when given an opportunity. About 5-6 shots from a Needle Rifle or DMR are usually enough to kill Engineers.

Weapon selection is one of the most important factors in beating Legendary. The weapons you should generally have equipped are as follows:
~DMR
~Needle Rifle
~Magnum
~Plasma Pistol
~Plasma Rifle
~Plasma Repeater

These are some of the most common and versatile weapons in the game and you should always have at least two of the weapons on this list at all times (unless given the chance to a bigger weapon like a Target Locator or Rocket Launcher.) Preferably, a ballistic human weapon coupled with a Covenant plasma weapon. My favorite combination is a DMR with a Plasma Pistol. This is because when facing large groups of enemies, I can use my DMR (or a similar weapon) to pop the Grunts and Jackals, then when shielded enemies like Elites rush me, I can overcharge my Plasma Pistol and drop their shields. While they are stunned, I finish them off with a quick headshot. This system makes the seemingly impossible to beat Elites a very easy opponent.

Finally, I`d have to say to shy away from most vehicles (unless the mission demands it or if it`s just for temporary transportation.) The only vehicle I`d recommend sticking with is the Scorpion tank or the Rocket Hog. No specific tips, but the uses for these two vehicles kind of speak for themselves...